Trump endorses Ten Commandments in schools, implores evangelical Christians to vote in November

WASHINGTON (AP) — Donald Trump told a group of evangelicals they “cannot afford to sit on the sidelines” of the 2024 election, imploring them at one point to “go and vote, Christians, please!"

Trump also endorsed displaying the Ten Commandments in schools and elsewhere while speaking to a group of politically influential evangelical Christians in Washington on Saturday. He drew cheers as he invoked a new law signed in Louisiana this week requiring the Ten Commandments to be displayed in every public school classroom.

"Has anyone read the ‘Thou shalt not steal'? I mean, has anybody read this incredible stuff? It’s just incredible," Trump said at the gathering of the Faith & Freedom Coalition. "They don’t want it to go up. It’s a crazy world.’’

Trump a day earlier posted an endorsement of the new law on his social media network, saying: “I LOVE THE TEN COMMANDMENTS IN PUBLIC SCHOOLS, PRIVATE SCHOOLS, AND MANY OTHER PLACES, FOR THAT MATTER. READ IT — HOW CAN WE, AS A NATION, GO WRONG???”

The former president and presumptive Republican presidential nominee backed the move as he seeks to galvanize his supporters on the religious right, which has fiercely backed him after initially being suspicious of the twice-divorced New York City tabloid celebrity when he first ran for president in 2016.

That support has continued despite his conviction in the first of four criminal cases he faces, in which a jury last month found him guilty of falsifying business records for what prosecutors said was an attempt to cover up a hush money payment to porn actor Stormy Daniels just before the 2016 election. Daniels claims she had a sexual encounter with Trump a decade earlier, which he denies.

Trump’s stated opposition to signing a nationwide ban on abortion and his reluctance to detail some of his views on the issue are at odds with many members of the evangelical movement, a key part of Trump's base that's expected to help him turn out voters in his November rematch with Democratic President Joe Biden.

But while many members of the movement would like to see him do more to restrict abortion, they cheer him as the greatest champion for the cause because of his role in appointing U.S. Supreme Court justices who overturned national abortion rights in 2022.

Trump highlighted that Saturday, saying, “We did something that was amazing,” but the issue would be left to people to decide in the states.

“Every voter has to go with your heart and do what’s right, but we also have to get elected,” he said.

While he still takes credit for the reversal of Roe v. Wade, Trump has also warned abortion can be tricky politically for Republicans. For months, he deferred questions about his position on a national ban.

Last year, when Trump addressed the Faith & Freedom Coalition, he said there was “a vital role for the federal government in protecting unborn life” but didn’t offer any details beyond that.

In April of this year, Trump said he believed the issue should now be left to the states. He later stated in an interview that he would not sign a nationwide ban on abortion if it was passed by Congress. He has still declined to detail his position on women’s access to the abortion pill mifepristone.

About two-thirds of Americans say abortion should generally be legal, according to polling last year by The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research.

Attendees at the evangelical gathering on Saturday said that while they'd like to see a national abortion ban, Trump isn't losing any of their deep support.

“I would prefer if he would sign a national ban,” said Jerri Dickinson, a 78-year-old retired social worker and Faith & Freedom member from New Jersey. “I understand though, that as in accordance with the Constitution, that decision should be left up to the states.”

Dickinson said she can’t stand the abortion law in her state, which does not set limits on the procedure based on gestational age. But she said outside of preferring a national ban, leaving the issue to the state “is the best alternative.”

According to AP VoteCast, a wide-ranging survey of the electorate, about 8 in 10 white evangelical Christian voters supported Trump in 2020, and nearly 4 in 10 Trump voters identified as white evangelical Christians. White evangelical Christians made up about 20% of the overall electorate that year.

Beyond just offering their own support in the general election, the Faith & Freedom Coalition plans to help get out the vote for Trump and other Republicans, aiming to use volunteers and paid workers to knock on millions of doors in battleground states.

Trump also rallied voters in Philadelphia on Saturday with a speech heavily focused on violent crime, telling supporters at an arena that he would grant police officers immunity from prosecution.

“Under Crooked Joe, the City of Brotherly Love is being ravaged by bloodshed and crime,” he said. “We will surge federal law enforcement resources to the places that need them most.”

Statistics from the Philadelphia city controller say there were 410 homicides in 2023, a 20% drop compared to 2022.

Tyler Cecconi, 25, of Richmond, Virginia, said he was glad that Trump is stepping out of his comfort zone and going to places that may not be red. At the venue, a digital banner read “Philadelphia is Trump Country."

“He’s showing the people that regardless if you vote for him or not, or if it’s a blue county or a red county, it doesn’t matter to him,” Cecconi said. “A president is for everybody in this country.”

The GOP Senate candidate of Pennsylvania, Dave McCormick, attended the rally and appeared on stage to talk to voters about the economy and immigration.

“This economy is not working for most Pennsylvanians, and it's not working for most Americans,” McCormick said.

At both events, Trump returned several times to the subject of the U.S.-Mexico border and when describing migrants crossing it as “tough,” he said that he told his friend Dana White, the president of the Ultimate Fighting Championship, to enlist them in a new version of the sport.

"'Why don’t you set up a migrant league and have your regular league of fighters. And then you have the champion of your league, these are the greatest fighters in the world, fighting the champion of the migrants,’” Trump described saying to White. “I think the migrant guy might win, that’s how tough they are. He didn’t like that idea too much.”

Biden's campaign responded to Trump's remarks by saying it was “fitting” that Trump, convicted of a felony, spent time at a religious conference making threats about immigration and “bragging about ripping away Americans’ freedoms.”

“Trump’s incoherent, unhinged tirade showed voters in his own words that he is a threat to our freedoms and is too dangerous to be let anywhere near the White House again,” campaign spokesperson Sarafina Chitika said in a statement.

Alexander reported from Philadelphia. Associated Press writers Adriana Gomez Licon, Tom Strong and Amelia Thomson DeVeaux contributed to this report.

Republican presidential candidate former President Donald Trump gestures to the crowd at a campaign rally, Saturday, June 22, 2024, at Temple University in Philadelphia. (AP Photo/Chris Szagola)

Republican presidential candidate former President Donald Trump, left, greets Republican Senate candidate Dave McCormick at a campaign rally, Saturday, June 22, 2024, at Temple University in Philadelphia. (AP Photo/Chris Szagola)

Republican presidential candidate former President Donald Trump speaks at a campaign rally, Saturday, June 22, 2024, at Temple University in Philadelphia. (AP Photo/Chris Szagola)

Republican presidential candidate former President Donald Trump, center, greets customers and staff at Tony and Nick's Steaks, Saturday, June 22, 2024, in Philadelphia. (AP Photo/Chris Szagola)

Republican presidential candidate former President Donald Trump participates in an interview at Tony and Nick's Steaks during a campaign stop, Saturday, June 22, 2024, in Philadelphia. (AP Photo/Chris Szagola)

South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noam speaks at the Road to Majority conference in Washington, Saturday, June 22, 2024. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)

Republican presidential candidate former President Donald Trump arrives to speak at the Road to Majority conference in Washington, Saturday, June 22, 2024. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)

Republican presidential candidate former President Donald Trump speaks at the Road to Majority conference in Washington, Saturday, June 22, 2024. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)

Republican presidential candidate former President Donald Trump speaks at the Road to Majority conference in Washington, Saturday, June 22, 2024. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)

Republican presidential candidate former President Donald Trump walks off stage after speaking at the Road to Majority conference in Washington, Saturday, June 22, 2024. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)

Republican presidential candidate former President Donald Trump walks off stage after speaking at the Road to Majority conference in Washington, Saturday, June 22, 2024. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)

Republican presidential candidate former President Donald Trump speaks at the Road to Majority conference in Washington, Saturday, June 22, 2024. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)

FILE - Republican presidential candidate former President Donald Trump smiles during a campaign event at 180 Church, June 15, 2024, in Detroit. (AP Photo/Carlos Osorio)

NOGALES, Mexico (AP) — Ana Ruiz was dismayed seeing migrants from some countries released in the United States with orders to appear in immigration court while she and other Mexicans were deported on a one-hour bus ride to the nearest border crossing.

“They're giving priority to other countries,” Ruiz, 35, said after a tearful phone call to family in Mexico's southern state of Chiapas at the San Juan Bosco migrant shelter. The shelter's director says it is receiving about 100 deportees a day, more than double what it saw before President Joe Biden issued an executive order that suspends asylum processing at the U.S.-Mexico border when arrests for illegal crossings reach 2,500 a day.

The asylum halt, which took effect June 5 and has led to a 40% decline in arrests for illegal crossings, applies to all nationalities. But it falls hardest on those most susceptible to deportation — specifically, Mexicans and others Mexico agrees to take (Cubans, Haitians, Nicaraguans, Venezuelans). Lack of money for charter flights, sour diplomatic ties and other operational challenges make it more difficult to deport people to many countries in Africa, Asia, Europe and South America.

Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas said the U.S. is working with countries around the world to accept more of their deported citizens, citing challenges from diplomatic relations to speed producing travel documents.

“The reality is that it is easier to remove individuals to certain countries than other countries,” he said in an interview Wednesday in Tucson, Arizona. “We do remove individuals to Senegal, we do remove individuals to Colombia, we do remove individuals to India. It can be more difficult.”

Mexicans accounted for 38% of border arrests in May, down from 85% in 2011 but still the highest nationality by far. The Border Patrol's Tucson sector has been the busiest corridor for illegal crossings for much of the last year. Last month, nearly three of every four arrests there were of Mexicans, helping explain why the asylum ban has had more impact in Arizona. U.S. authorities say the seven-day average of daily arrests in the Tucson sector fell below 600 this week from just under 1,200 on June 2.

Border agents in Arizona have been severely tested since late 2022 by nationalities that are difficult to deport — first from Cuba and later Mauritania, Guinea and Senegal. Many cross near Lukeville, about a four-hour bus ride to a major processing center in Tucson.

Many Mexicans cross illegally much closer to Tucson in Nogales, Arizona, some by climbing over a wall with ladders made from material at a seatbelt plant on the Mexican side to try to disappear into homes and businesses within seconds. Others turn themselves in to border agents to claim asylum, entering through gaps in the wall that are being filled in. On Tuesday, a group of 49 predominantly Mexican migrants were waiting for agents.

Some are taken to the Border Patrol station in Nogales, where they can be held for six days if they express fear of being deported under the asylum halt and seek similar forms of protection that would allow them to remain but that have a much higher bar, such as the U.N. Convention Against Torture.

Most are taken to a cluster of giant white tents near Tucson International Airport, which opened in April 2021 for unaccompanied children. It now has space for 1,000 people, including single adults and families, who sleep on foam mattresses or raised beds.

On Tuesday, about a dozen people who said they feared deportation sat on benches in a cavernous room to hear instructions on the screening interview, which includes a four-hour window to call attorneys or others to prepare. They were then directed to one of 16 soundproof phone booths.

The Tucson processing center didn't even conduct screenings before Biden's asylum halt. That resulted in more migrants being released with orders to appear in U.S. immigration court, a practice that has plummeted in recent weeks. The screenings by asylum officers take about 90 minutes by phone.

Many migrants who fail interviews are deported to Nogales, a sprawling city in the Mexican state of Sonora, and end up at San Juan Bosco, where a giant fan in a former chapel offers relief from blistering summer heat.

Francisco Loureiro, who runs the shelter in a hardscrabble hillside neighborhood, said word has gotten out among Mexicans that they will be deported if they surrender to agents to seek asylum and that more will try to avoid being captured. He said one deported migrant accepted a smuggler's offer outside the shelter Tuesday to try to sneak across undetected.

Ruiz said she did not get a chance to explain to an asylum officer that she feared returning to Mexico due to cartel violence. “They were very direct, yes-or-no questions. You couldn't explain why you were afraid,” she said.

Mayorkas said complaints about the screening predate Biden's June order.

“I have confidence in our agents and officers that they are abiding by the guidelines, that our guidelines are strong, and we have the expertise to individuals who manifest fear,” he said.

Anahi Sandoval, 30, said she tried to avoid capture after crossing the border in Nogales and was abandoned by her smuggler in the desert. She said she fled Chiapas after she and her husband, who owned a doors and windows business, refused to be extorted by gangs; her husband was killed and she left her daughter with a relative.

“The Colombians get a pass but not the Mexicans,” said Sandoval, who failed her screening interview. “It makes me angry.”

Araceli Martinez, 32, said she fears returning home with her 14-year-old daughter to a physically abusive husband but no one asked her and she didn't know that she had to ask until she was on a bus to Mexico. Previously, Border Patrol agents had to ask migrants if they feared returning home. Under new rules, migrants must ask unprompted or express obvious signs of distress, such as crying.

Martinez was eager to spread a message to others: “People come thinking there is asylum, but there isn't.”

Two migrants sleep in their bunk bed at the San Juan Bosco migrant shelter in Nogales, Mexico, Tuesday, June 25, 2024. Many migrants who fail interviews are deported to Nogales, a sprawling city in the Mexican state of Sonora, and end up at the shelter, where a giant fan in a former chapel offers relief from blistering summer heat. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)

HOLD FOR STORY BY ELLIOT SPAGAT Female migrants, mostly Mexican nationals recently deported from the U.S., prepare to settle into their bunk beds for the night at the San Juan Bosco migrant shelter in Nogales, Mexico, Tuesday, June 25, 2024. Many migrants who fail interviews are deported to Nogales, a sprawling city in the Mexican state of Sonora, and end up at the shelter, where a giant fan in a former chapel offers relief from blistering summer heat. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)

Migrants, mostly Mexican nationals recently deported from the U.S., prepare to settle into their bunk beds for the night at the San Juan Bosco migrant shelter in Nogales, Mexico, Tuesday, June 25, 2024. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)

HOLD FOR STORY BY ELLIOT SPAGAT Two migrants sleep in their bunk bed at the San Juan Bosco migrant shelter in Nogales, Mexico, Tuesday, June 25, 2024. Many migrants who fail interviews are deported to Nogales, a sprawling city in the Mexican state of Sonora, and end up at the shelter, where a giant fan in a former chapel offers relief from blistering summer heat. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)

Migrants, mostly Mexican nationals deported back to their homeland from the U.S., eat their dinner at the San Juan Bosco migrant shelter in Nogales, Mexico, Tuesday, June 25, 2024. The Biden administration's asylum halt that has led to a 40% drop in arrests for illegal border crossings this month applies to all nationalities but falls hardest on nationalities most susceptible to being deported _ most notably, Mexicans. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)

Volunteer Edith Garcia prepares soup to serve migrants, mostly Mexican nationals deported from the U.S., at the San Juan Bosco migrant shelter in Nogales, Mexico, Tuesday, June 25, 2024. The Biden administration's asylum halt that has led to a 40% drop in arrests for illegal border crossings this month applies to all nationalities but falls hardest on nationalities most susceptible to being deported _ most notably, Mexicans. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)

Migrants, mostly Mexican nationals recently deported from the U.S., eat their dinner at the San Juan Bosco migrant shelter in Nogales, Mexico, Tuesday, June 25, 2024. The Biden administration's asylum halt that has led to a 40% drop in arrests for illegal border crossings this month applies to all nationalities but falls hardest on nationalities most susceptible to being deported - most notably, Mexicans. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)

A father and a daughter who declined to give their names sit in a chapel while waiting for dinner at the San Juan Bosco migrant shelter in Nogales, Mexico, Tuesday, June 25, 2024. Many migrants who fail interviews are deported to Nogales, a sprawling city in the Mexican state of Sonora, and end up at the shelter, where a giant fan in a former chapel offers relief from blistering summer heat. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)

Female migrants, mostly Mexican nationals recently deported from the U.S., eat their dinner at the San Juan Bosco migrant shelter in Nogales, Mexico, Tuesday, June 25, 2024. Many migrants who fail interviews are deported to Nogales, a sprawling city in the Mexican state of Sonora, and end up at the shelter, where a giant fan in a former chapel offers relief from blistering summer heat. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)

Mayra Mauricio, a Mexican migrant deported from the U.S., holds her smartphone to her ear to listen to a message left by a family member as she waits for dinner in a chapel at the San Juan Bosco migrant shelter in Nogales, Mexico, Tuesday, June 25, 2024. Many migrants who fail interviews are deported to Nogales, a sprawling city in the Mexican state of Sonora, and end up at the shelter, where a giant fan in a former chapel offers relief from blistering summer heat. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)

A migrant recently deported from the U.S. waits in line to shower at the San Juan Bosco migrant shelter in Nogales, Mexico, Tuesday, June 25, 2024. Many migrants who fail interviews are deported to Nogales, a sprawling city in the Mexican state of Sonora, and end up at the shelter, where a giant fan in a former chapel offers relief from blistering summer heat. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)

Luis Reynosa, a 17-year-old Mexican migrant recently deported back to his homeland, sits outside the San Juan Bosco migrant shelter while waiting for dinner in Nogales, Mexico, Tuesday, June 25, 2024. The Biden administration's asylum halt that has led to a 40% drop in arrests for illegal border crossings this month applies to all nationalities but falls hardest on nationalities most susceptible to being deported _ most notably, Mexicans. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)

Yazmani Gomes, left, arm-wrestles with Eliseo Lopez while waiting for dinner at San Juan Bosco migrant shelter in Nogales, Mexico, Tuesday, June 25, 2024. Many migrants who fail interviews are deported to Nogales, a sprawling city in the Mexican state of Sonora, and end up at the shelter, where a giant fan in a former chapel offers relief from blistering summer heat. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)

A migrant goes through his possessions as bags belonging to other migrants deported back to their homeland are piled up along the wall in a chapel at the San Juan Bosco migrant shelter in Nogales, Mexico, Tuesday, June 25, 2024. Mexicans accounted for 38% of border arrests in May, down from 85% in 2011 but still the highest nationality by far. In the Border Patrol's Tucson sector, the busiest corridor for illegal crossings for much of the last year, nearly three of every four arrests last month were of Mexicans, helping explain why the asylum ban has had more impact in Arizona. U.S. authorities say the 7-day average of daily arrests in the Tucson sector fell below 600 this week from just under 1,200 on June 2. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)

Juaquin Hernandez watches his 7-year-old son, Jonathan, play with a smartphone in the men's dorm at the San Juan Bosco migrant shelter in Nogales, Mexico, Tuesday, June 25, 2024. Many migrants who fail interviews are deported to Nogales, a sprawling city in the Mexican state of Sonora, and end up at the shelter, where a giant fan in a former chapel offers relief from blistering summer heat. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)

Female migrants who were recently deported from the U.S. sit in a chapel at the San Juan Bosco migrant shelter while waiting for dinner in Nogales, Mexico, Tuesday, June 25, 2024. Many migrants who fail interviews are deported to Nogales, a sprawling city in the Mexican state of Sonora, and end up at the shelter, where a giant fan in a former chapel offers relief from blistering summer heat. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)

Several migrants arrive at the San Juan Bosco migrant shelter to spend the night in Nogales, Mexico, Tuesday, June 25, 2024, after they were deported from the U.S. The Biden administration's asylum halt that has led to a 40% drop in arrests for illegal border crossings this month applies to all nationalities but falls hardest on nationalities most susceptible to being deported _ most notably, Mexicans. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)

Holding a Border Patrol-issued plastic bag containing her belongings, Mexican migrant Ana Ruiz, right, wipes her tears while talking to a family member at the San Juan Bosco migrant shelter in Nogales, Mexico, Tuesday, June 25, 2024, after she was deported back to her homeland from the U.S. The asylum halt, which took effect June 5 and has led a 40% decline in arrests for illegal crossings, applies to all nationalities but falls hardest on nationalities most susceptible to deportation _ specifically, Mexicans and those that Mexico agrees to take back. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)